Electrical contact socket member



Dec. 16,14'924- 1 19,972

A. HARTH ELECTRICAL CONTACT SOCKET MEMBER Filed Feb. 17. 1920 Patented Dec. 16, 1924.

PATENT OFFICE.

BY, AssIeNon TO ivtaenus "ELECTRIC 00., conservation or" NEW YORK.

attentionooN'rAo'r seeker MEMBER.

Application filed February 17, 1 920; Serial No. 859,431.

To all whomit may concern.

Be it known that I, AUGUsT HARTH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Newark, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Contact Socket Members, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electrical contact members and more particularly to unit at tachment plug sockets comprising a plurality of contact socket members.

An object of the invention is to provide a contact attachment having suitable socket members arranged and constructed to receive round or square terminals and having an effective contact area with either form of terminal to insure good electrical connection and thereby avoid undue resistance or heating of the parts of the device. Further features of the invention are rugged construction, simplicity in assembly and reliability of operation.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear in the following description.

I will now describe the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and thereafter point out my invention in claims.

Figure 1 is a plan of an electrical contact socket embodying my invention set in a suitable insulating member, the upper half of which is removed.

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1 looking toward the left, the upper half of the insulating member being shown in dotted lines.

Figure 3 is an enlarged View in perspective of the contact jaws and holding screw spaced apart for the purpose of clear illustration.

Figure eiis an enlarged section taken on the line et1 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3.

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings consists of a casing 1 of insulating material made up of separable halves held together by suitable screws or bolts (not shown) adapted to be placed in the apertures 11. The casing 1 is provided with two suitable grooves 2 each adapted to receive a complete contact socket member, one of which is shown as empty in Figure 1.

Each contact socket member consists of co-acting jaw members 12 and 13, held together by a holding screw 10 screwed into the threaded apertures 5. The jaw members 12 and 13 are provided with jaws 3 and a posterior shank 4. Each jaw 3 has two fiat sides forming an obtuse angle between them and the jaws are so arranged that when secured together the angles face each other and the aws form an oblong enclosure hereinafter more particularly described.

The jaw member 12, hereafter called the lower jaw member, is provided with an upwardly turned flange 7 on each side of the posterior shank 4:, and the shank 4 of the jaw member 13 is slightly narrower than the shank 4 of the lower jaw member 12 and is adapted to fit snugly between these flanges 7 of the jaw member 12, and against its corresponding shank &. The threaded aperture 5 of the shank 4 on the lower jaw member 12 is provided with a reinforcing hub 15. The flanges 7 and hub 15 enable the jaw members 12 and 13 to be held together very firmly and rigidly.

A slightly sloping shoulder 9 is formed on each aw member at the point of connection between the posterior shanks and the jaws 3. The portion 6 of the shank l between the shoulder 9 and the threaded aperture 5 is arcuate in shape in order to reinforce the same against flexing when a force is applied to the jaws 3 tending to separate the same. The jaws 3 are provided at their ends with outwardly turned lips 8 to allow for the easy ingress of a plug into or between the jaw members 12 and 13.

In using this contact socket member with round terminals, the round terminal is inserted between the jaws 3 until it strikes the shoulder 9 which acts as an abutment or stop. Contact is formed on each of the sides of the jaws 3, thus making four lines of contact.

When a flat or rectangular terminal is used, it is forced between the jaws 3, its sides projecting beyond the sides of such jaws and contact is formed on four lines along the knife-like edges 14 of the jaws 3.

When the terminals are removed the jaws spring back to normal position.

' It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown in the drawings and above particularly de scribed within the principle and scope of my invention.

I claim In a contact socket member, a plurality of jaw members adapted to be connected together, each jaw member comprising a jaw, a shank provided with an opening, a sloping shoulder connecting thejaw with the shank,

the shank being bent into an arcuate shape intermediate the opening formed therein and its point of connection with said sloping shoulder, whereby the shank portion is reinforced against flexing when the jaws are separated, and means passed through the openings of the shanks for retaining the jaw members together.

In testimony whereof, I have aflixed my 20 signature to this specification.

AUGUST HARTH. 

